The Pollination of Nepal's Micronutrient-rich Crops in a Changing Climate
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Biological Sciences
Abstract
Three quarters of crop species depend on pollinators, but the service they provide is under increasing threat from climate change. Declines in
pollinators are predicted to have negative impacts on human health as key dietary micronutrients in insect pollinated crops such as vitamin A and
folate are lost from the diet. This "hidden hunger" is predicted to cause significant global health burdens. Climate change is already affecting
pollinators, for example, the geographic range of bumblebees is shrinking as their southern range moves northwards, the synchrony between
flowering plants and their pollinators is being disrupted and climate change is predicted to decrease bee species richness by 8-18% in some areas.
Pollinator loss disproportionately harms developing countries, as they are both less resilient to yield drops and more reliant on the micronutrients
found in small-scale pollinator-dependent crops. Providing population-wide vitamin supplementation is neither practical nor sustainable in remote
parts of the world; instead, diversifying the diet by increasing access to micronutrient-rich fruits, vegetables and legumes could provide a solution.
Fortunately, pollinator declines can be reversed, at least locally. Moreover, if the effect of climate change on pollinators is understood, habitat
management can be used to mitigate against its effects. There is evidence of climate change, pollinator declines and micronutrient deficiency in our
focal country Nepal and our research vision has four components: 1) to predict the effect of climate change on crop pollinators in Nepal; 2) to
predict the ensuing impact on crop production and micronutrient intake; 3) run a field experiment to test the resilience of insect pollinated crops to
climate change; 4) develop a policy and education package to mitigate the effects of climate change on crop pollination and micronutrient intake.
Working with health professionals in Nepal, our international team of natural scientists and health scientists will provide information and innovative
solutions for an understudied impact of climate change on human health.
pollinators are predicted to have negative impacts on human health as key dietary micronutrients in insect pollinated crops such as vitamin A and
folate are lost from the diet. This "hidden hunger" is predicted to cause significant global health burdens. Climate change is already affecting
pollinators, for example, the geographic range of bumblebees is shrinking as their southern range moves northwards, the synchrony between
flowering plants and their pollinators is being disrupted and climate change is predicted to decrease bee species richness by 8-18% in some areas.
Pollinator loss disproportionately harms developing countries, as they are both less resilient to yield drops and more reliant on the micronutrients
found in small-scale pollinator-dependent crops. Providing population-wide vitamin supplementation is neither practical nor sustainable in remote
parts of the world; instead, diversifying the diet by increasing access to micronutrient-rich fruits, vegetables and legumes could provide a solution.
Fortunately, pollinator declines can be reversed, at least locally. Moreover, if the effect of climate change on pollinators is understood, habitat
management can be used to mitigate against its effects. There is evidence of climate change, pollinator declines and micronutrient deficiency in our
focal country Nepal and our research vision has four components: 1) to predict the effect of climate change on crop pollinators in Nepal; 2) to
predict the ensuing impact on crop production and micronutrient intake; 3) run a field experiment to test the resilience of insect pollinated crops to
climate change; 4) develop a policy and education package to mitigate the effects of climate change on crop pollination and micronutrient intake.
Working with health professionals in Nepal, our international team of natural scientists and health scientists will provide information and innovative
solutions for an understudied impact of climate change on human health.
Planned Impact
IMPACT, ENGAGEMENT AND DISSEMINATION PLAN
1. How users will be engaged in the project.
We define 'users' as: i) Nepalese people who live in the district of Jumla whose food
production / consumption is affected by pollination, ii) agricultural development personnel in
government and non-governmental organisations both within and outside Jumla who are
involved in sustainable farming practices and conservation / management of pollinators; iii)
conservationists and government and non-governmental environmental organisations; iv)
local NGOs in CBOs in Jumla and external development partners in Nepal; v) nutrition and
dietary intake specialists in Nepal and beyond; vi) policy makers with interests in climate
change, agricultural productivity, biodiversity, food and nutrition security and diet; vii)
climate change, pollination and nutrition / public health scientists in Nepal and the global
academic community.
We will engage users in the project in the following ways:
1) Reaching the actual stewards of the land is what matters to make a change. Therefore,
we will run a Pollinator Awareness Program in Jumla on the importance of pollinators
for biodiversity maintenance, crop pollination and healthy diets.
2) Practices will only be adopted through local buy-in. To this end, there will be a
national-level and a local-level stakeholder engagement meeting at the beginning and
end of the project to attract buy-in and interest at both levels. A wide range of local
stakeholders will be invited to these, including rural and urban municipality officials,
health and agricultural extension workers, Nepal Agricultural Research Council
(NARC) field researchers, health workers, members of community forest user groups
and local farmer and beekeepers' associations, local NGOs and CBOs, youth clubs,
school-teachers, and students. Between them, the team has access to a large network
of contacts in Nepal.
3) Results will only matter if positive impacts are sustained through time. With this aim,
we will establish a Pollinator Monitoring Program with a "Pollinator Information
Desk" at the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) Horticultural Research
Farm in Rajikot, Jumla.
4) Local initiatives need central support. As a team we will propose a National Pollinator
Strategy for Nepal, circulating the idea for comment and suggestions to scientists,
organisations, policy makers and stakeholders in Nepal.
5) Embedding knowledge in the local community. By training local data collectors on
collection of both dietary data and pollinator identification we will ensure that
knowledge of pollinators and their importance will be left behind in the communities
where we work. Similarly study of diet will lead to awareness about healthy diets
which should help to promote production and consumption of insect-pollinated crops.
1. How users will be engaged in the project.
We define 'users' as: i) Nepalese people who live in the district of Jumla whose food
production / consumption is affected by pollination, ii) agricultural development personnel in
government and non-governmental organisations both within and outside Jumla who are
involved in sustainable farming practices and conservation / management of pollinators; iii)
conservationists and government and non-governmental environmental organisations; iv)
local NGOs in CBOs in Jumla and external development partners in Nepal; v) nutrition and
dietary intake specialists in Nepal and beyond; vi) policy makers with interests in climate
change, agricultural productivity, biodiversity, food and nutrition security and diet; vii)
climate change, pollination and nutrition / public health scientists in Nepal and the global
academic community.
We will engage users in the project in the following ways:
1) Reaching the actual stewards of the land is what matters to make a change. Therefore,
we will run a Pollinator Awareness Program in Jumla on the importance of pollinators
for biodiversity maintenance, crop pollination and healthy diets.
2) Practices will only be adopted through local buy-in. To this end, there will be a
national-level and a local-level stakeholder engagement meeting at the beginning and
end of the project to attract buy-in and interest at both levels. A wide range of local
stakeholders will be invited to these, including rural and urban municipality officials,
health and agricultural extension workers, Nepal Agricultural Research Council
(NARC) field researchers, health workers, members of community forest user groups
and local farmer and beekeepers' associations, local NGOs and CBOs, youth clubs,
school-teachers, and students. Between them, the team has access to a large network
of contacts in Nepal.
3) Results will only matter if positive impacts are sustained through time. With this aim,
we will establish a Pollinator Monitoring Program with a "Pollinator Information
Desk" at the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) Horticultural Research
Farm in Rajikot, Jumla.
4) Local initiatives need central support. As a team we will propose a National Pollinator
Strategy for Nepal, circulating the idea for comment and suggestions to scientists,
organisations, policy makers and stakeholders in Nepal.
5) Embedding knowledge in the local community. By training local data collectors on
collection of both dietary data and pollinator identification we will ensure that
knowledge of pollinators and their importance will be left behind in the communities
where we work. Similarly study of diet will lead to awareness about healthy diets
which should help to promote production and consumption of insect-pollinated crops.
People |
ORCID iD |
Jane Memmott (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Timberlake T
(2022)
A network approach for managing ecosystem services and improving food and nutrition security on smallholder farms
in People and Nature
Villa-Galaviz E
(2023)
What makes a good pollinator? Abundant and specialised insects with long flight periods transport the most strawberry pollen
in Ecological Solutions and Evidence
Kortsch S
(2023)
Landscape composition and pollinator traits interact to influence pollination success in an individual-based model
in Functional Ecology
Description | We have further funding to expand our impact activities - thus we secured a 2.5 year Darwin Initiative Grant for £374,788 (Embedding Sustainable Pollination Management into Nepalese Agricultural Systems) which started in June 2022. Our results are fed directly into this project, thereby adding a much larger impact agenda to the original project. |
First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
Description | FAO links forms |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Following a tour of the UN FAO's field sites and a series of project presentations to their senior country staff including the UN FAO representative to Nepal, FAO Nepal has adopted a number of pollination management strategies proposed by our project. The FAO will now implement these new practices in multiple FAO sites around the country and is likely to integrate the recommendations into government agricultural strategies through their close relationship with the Nepal Government Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Field guide |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | A comprehensive pictoral plant atlas/ field guide to the common flowering plants and crop plants of Jumla District, Nepal. Local, scientific and English plant names are provided in both Nepali and English making it highly accessible and useable by local or international researchers working in this region. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Insect taxonomy capacity building workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Nine-day insect taxonomy capacity building workshop led by expert taxonomist from India. Course was attended by taxonomy students from Tribhuvan University, Nepal whose skillset and network of contacts have been greatly enhanced following the course. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Policy impact |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The Karnali Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoLMAC) has partnered with our project team and some other Nepal-based institutions to integrate pollinator conservation and management into their provincial agriculture strategy. Karnali Province has recently been declared an organic province by MoLMAC and they have requested technical guidance from our team to incorporate evidence-based pollination management strategies into provincial policy. As a team, we have successfully secured an additional £414K of funding from the UK Darwin Initiative and Bristol Centre for Agricultural Innovation to develop a Pollinator Action Plan for Karnali Province based upon the evidence-base of this Belmont project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Training workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Capacity building workshop with Nepal Government Agriculture Officers and FAO staff to raise awareness and understanding of agroecosystem services (particularly pollination) and provide management recommendations for enhancing these services. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |